A mall fit out, night shift, the scissor lift already parked under a ceiling grid with the crew waiting on it. The HSE officer walked over and asked the operator for his PAL card. The operator reached for his phone and pulled up a photograph of it, taken months ago, slightly blurred. The card itself was at home in Sharjah. The job stopped there, at ten past eleven at night, with four men standing around a machine nobody was allowed to touch.
That call reached our desk before midnight, and it is one of the most common we take. So here is what to actually do when a MEWP operator has no valid IPAF PAL card in front of him, and how to tell in five minutes whether you have a paperwork problem or a competence problem.
The short answer, verify before you stand anyone down
Verify before you stand anyone down. Check the operator on checkPAL or the ePAL app, since a lost card with a live record is a paperwork problem. If the card is expired, unverifiable or the wrong category for the machine, the operator stops and either retrains or is replaced by a carded operator.
Why verification comes first
A lost card is not the same as no card. The IPAF record either exists or it does not, and you can find that out from your phone while everyone is still on site.
We have watched sites send an operator home at midnight and then discover the next morning that his record was live and current. A whole shift went for nothing, and the operator felt accused of something he had not done.
Check first. Decide second.
How to verify a PAL card in five minutes
checkPAL, the online check
IPAF’s verification tool sits at www.ipaf.org/checkpal, which takes you through to portal.ipaf.org.
You need two things. The licence number exactly as it appears on the card, typically three letters such as AOP followed by seven digits, and the operator’s date of birth. The result returns the holder’s name, photograph, categories and qualification status.
That is the check that settles the argument. It is either there or it is not.
The ePAL app, the digital licence
IPAF’s ePAL app is free and holds the digital version of the licence, with the full category names spelled out rather than the codes.
When the card is genuinely at home, this is usually the fastest route. Ask the operator to open the app on his own phone and show you.
The physical card checks
When the card is in front of you, look at five things.
- The name and photograph on the front, matching the man holding it
- The expiry date
- The categories listed
- The IPAF hologram, top left on the reverse
- The signature and training centre details
A photocopy is not evidence. Neither is a training certificate on its own with no card record behind it. Plenty of people carry a course completion sheet believing it is the same thing.
If you think a card has been altered
It happens, rarely. IPAF runs a suspected fraud line on +44 (0)15395 66700.
Report it and let IPAF check the record. Do not accuse anyone on site in front of a crew. You may simply be looking at a badly worn card and a nervous man.
The decision tree, four situations and what each one means
Card lost or forgotten, record verifies
This is a paperwork problem and nothing more. The operator is competent, qualified and covered.
Record the checkPAL or ePAL result in the operator’s file, keep a copy in the site pack so the next inspector sees it, and have him order a replacement card. He works tonight.
Card expired
A PAL card is valid for five years from the first day of the course, and renewal is by taking the course again.
There is no published grace period and no shortened refresher route. So an expired card means the operator is not carded until he retrains, however experienced he is. That is uncomfortable to say to a man who has been on lifts for fifteen years, and it is still the position.
No record found, or a card that does not verify
Treat him as unverified, not as dishonest. Records can be wrong and numbers can be mistyped, so try the check twice, carefully.
If it still returns nothing, he does not operate the MEWP. Training is the route back. Write the decision down, with the time, the licence number checked and the result, because that note is what protects the site later.
Wrong category for the machine on site
This is the most common one we deal with, and the least understood.
The card is genuine. It is in date. It verifies perfectly. It simply does not cover the machine standing in front of him. The fix is either a different operator or the missing category course, and the next section explains why the mismatch happens so easily.
Reading the category, the part nobody explains
Once you know the logic, you can read any PAL card in a second.
The number is chassis mobility. 1 means static or outriggered, the machine does not travel while elevated. 3 means mobile, it can travel while elevated.
The letter is movement type. “a” means vertical, the platform goes straight up. “b” means boom, the platform can move out as well as up.
So 3a is a mobile vertical machine, which is your scissor lift. 3b is a mobile boom, which is your boom lift. A 3a card does not cover a boom lift, and that single sentence is behind most of the stopped jobs we get called about.
The categories in full
- 1a, static vertical
- 1b, static boom, including trailer and vehicle mounted units
- 3a, mobile vertical
- 3b, mobile boom
- PAV, push around vertical
- MR and MO, for mast climbing work platforms
- Demonstrator, Load and Unload, and Spotter, for the roles around the machine rather than in it
Before we release a machine with an operator, our yard checks the category against the unit on the loading sheet. It sounds obvious. It is also the check that stops a 3a man arriving next to a telescopic boom.
What GU67 lists, and why it matches
This is not IPAF marketing language. DM-HSD-GU67-MEWP2, the Dubai Municipality guideline for mobile elevating work platforms, lists categories 1A, 3A, PAV, 3B and 1B, mirroring the EN 280 classification of Group A and B and Type 1, 2 and 3.
The categories on the card are the categories in the guideline. That is why the mismatch is treated seriously by inspectors rather than waved through as a technicality.
The delivery driver needs a card too
Worth knowing if you are the one receiving machines. In its September 2019 announcement, IPAF stated that rental companies must ensure delivery staff hold Demonstrator and Load and Unload licences, and that supervisors managing MEWP work be trained accordingly.
So the man unloading the scissor lift at your gate is inside this scheme as well, not just the man in the basket.
Is a PAL card actually required in Dubai, answered accurately
This is where most content gets loose, so here is the careful version.
What the written DM requirement says
GU67 states that “All MEWP operators shall undergo competency training from EIAC accredited third party company”, and that “All training shall be based on the requirement stipulated in the current version of ISO 18878 standard (e.g. IPAF).”
Read that closely. The written requirement is ISO 18878 compliant training delivered by an EIAC accredited provider. IPAF is named as the example, not as the only permitted scheme.
What actually happens on tier one Dubai sites
In September 2019, IPAF announced that Dubai Municipality had mandated valid PAL cards for MEWP and MCWP operators.
On the ground, the card is the de facto standard. It is contractually required on most tier one Dubai sites, written into subcontract packages and checked at induction. And that contractual requirement is usually what stops the job, well before any regulator is involved.
So the honest answer to “is it legally required” is that the guideline requires ISO 18878 training from an accredited provider, and the card is what your client’s HSE team is going to ask for regardless.
Accepted alternatives, and their limits
Two routes exist in principle. ISO 18878 compliant training from an EIAC accredited third party in Dubai, and OSHAD compliant training from an approved provider in Abu Dhabi, where ADOSH-SF CoP 34.0 refers to IPAF PAL or equivalent.
Here is the limit. Dubai Municipality does not publish a list of accepted equivalent schemes that we can point you to. So if a contractor tells you his operator holds an equivalent qualification, you are being asked to accept a judgement, not to check a register.
On a live site, at night, with a crew waiting, that judgement is not one an HSE officer should be making alone.
The GU67 two year retraining line
One more line in GU67 that surprises people. It states that all training shall be repeated every two years as a minimum, which is stricter than the five year card.
We present that as written. We are not going to tell you Dubai Municipality actively enforces it, because we cannot show you that in writing. The safe position is a documented refresher on the two year cycle, filed, so the question has an answer if it is ever asked.
Category training is not familiarisation, and a delivery demo is not training
Two different things get confused here, and the confusion costs people jobs.
Category training is the course and the card. Familiarisation is the specific type and model briefing, on the actual machine, covering its controls, its emergency lowering and its quirks. Familiarisation is required in addition to category training, never instead of it.
And this is the part we will say plainly against our own interest. GU67 Section D places duties on the supplier, including a demonstration on delivery, and it is explicit that the demonstration is not a substitute for training.
Our driver showing your operator where the emergency lowering valve sits is familiarisation, and it is useful. It is not a qualification, and no rental company should let you believe otherwise.
What the site should record, and for how long
Keep four things per operator, per machine.
- The verification result, with the date, licence number and who checked it
- The operator’s categories set against the machine actually on site
- The familiarisation record for that specific model
- The site induction record
GU67 requires training records to be kept for at least five years and made available to Dubai Municipality OHS inspectors. Those records also belong in the lifting file alongside the machine’s third party certificate, because an inspector asking about one usually asks about the other.
Getting the job moving again, two routes
Route one, a carded operator on site the same day
If the machine is fine and only the man is the problem, the fastest fix is a carded operator with the right category. Tell whoever you call the machine type and the category needed, not just “a boom lift guy”.
Route two, book the operator onto IPAF training
If the operator is otherwise good and you want to keep him, put him on the course.
In the UAE, single category courses such as 3a or 3b typically run over one day, with combined and multi category programmes taking one to three days depending on candidate numbers and machine availability. Some categories, including 1b, Demonstrator and Spotter, can be delivered online.
Successful candidates receive the PAL card, an IPAF operator’s log book and access to the ePAL app. We run this IPAF training ourselves, either at a centre or on the client’s own site with their machines, which is often easier for a crew that cannot all disappear on the same day.
A practical example from a Dubai site
A villa plot in Dubai Hills, a facade job, a diesel boom lift going out for three weeks. The subcontractor sent an operator who had been running scissor lifts on a mall contract for the previous eight months.
His card was genuine, in date and verified first time. It was a 3a.
The gap was found at the gate, before the machine was even positioned, because the site’s gate check reads the category against the machine rather than just confirming a card exists. We sent a 3b operator, and the same subcontractor booked the original man onto 3b training so the problem did not repeat on the next package.
Nobody was disciplined and nobody lost a day. The check just happened at the gate instead of halfway up a facade.
Frequently asked questions
How do you check if an IPAF PAL card is valid? Use checkPAL at www.ipaf.org/checkpal, entering the licence number exactly as printed and the holder’s date of birth. It returns the name, photograph, categories and status. The free ePAL app shows the same licence digitally with full category names. On a physical card, check the photograph, expiry date, categories and the hologram on the reverse.
Is a PAL card legally required in Dubai? The written requirement in GU67 is ISO 18878 compliant competency training from an EIAC accredited third party company, with IPAF named as the example. Separately, IPAF announced in 2019 that Dubai Municipality mandated PAL cards for MEWP operators. In practice the card is contractually required on most tier one Dubai sites, and that is what stops jobs.
Does a 3a card cover a boom lift? No. The number is chassis mobility and the letter is movement type, so 3a is a mobile vertical machine such as a scissor lift, while a boom lift needs 3b. The card can be completely genuine and in date and still not cover the machine on site. This mismatch is the most common stoppage we are called about.
How long is a PAL card valid and how is it renewed? Five years, counted from the first day of the training course rather than from the date printed on the card being issued. Renewal is by taking the course again and passing the theory and practical assessment. Plan it before expiry, because there is no shortcut once the date passes.
Is there a grace period on an expired card? There is no published grace period and no abbreviated refresher route. Once the card has expired the operator should be treated as not carded until he retrains, regardless of how many years he has spent on machines. If someone tells you a short extension is normal practice, ask them to show you where it is written.
Is a delivery demonstration the same as training? No. GU67 Section D places supplier duties on the rental company including a demonstration on delivery, and states explicitly that it is not a substitute for training. Familiarisation on the specific make and model is required in addition to category training. A driver showing your operator the controls does not qualify anyone.
What training does Dubai Municipality require for MEWP operators? GU67 requires competency training from an EIAC accredited third party company, based on the current version of ISO 18878, with IPAF given as the example. The same guideline also states that training shall be repeated every two years as a minimum, and that training records are kept for at least five years for inspection.
Can an operator work from a photo of their card? A photograph is not evidence of a valid licence, and neither is a photocopy. Run the licence number through checkPAL or have the operator open the ePAL app instead. Both give a live result rather than an image of a card that may since have expired, been suspended or never existed.
Get a carded operator today, or book IPAF training
Two ways out of this, and we can do both.
If the job has stopped tonight, call the yard with the machine type and the category you need, and we will tell you what we can put on site. We rent boom lifts, scissor lifts, man lifts and spider lifts across Dubai and the northern emirates, with carded operators available on request.
If you would rather keep the operator you have, we run IPAF training for 1a, 1b, 3a and 3b, plus MEWPs for Managers, Demonstrator and harness awareness. Courses run at the centre or on your own site with your machines, and candidates leave with the PAL card, the operator’s log book and ePAL access.
Dream Way Equipment and Machinery Rental LLC Ras Al Khor Industrial Area 2, Dubai 056 857 8181 and 054 581 9331 WhatsApp +971 56 857 8181 info@dreamwayrental.com Open 24/7, mobilisation support included.
We cover Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Al Ain.